30. Toast of London (Channel 4)

What we said: "In Toast they have created a monster, a fabulous thespian one. The whole thing is of great imagination and surreality. Just remembering some lines – "resembling Brucie from any era is bound to be traumatic for an African woman" for example – is setting me off again." Sam Wollaston

29. The Good Wife (More4)

What we said: "The Good Wife is uncommonly good. If you're looking for a quality drama box set to escape the family this Christmas, look no further. It has no smoking, brooding male anti-hero, and it's not a period piece, but The Good Wife is exciting and smart and underrated. In fact, it's much like its protagonist." Bim Adewunmi

28. Boardwalk Empire (Sky Atlantic)

What we said: "It has more characters at play than, for example, a Breaking Bad or a Homeland, and all of them are deemed worthy of exploration, as layers of power are traced back to their sources. Everyone is answerable to someone further up the food chain ... Boardwalk Empire is deeply rewarding." Phelim O'Neill

27. Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (BBC1)

Matt Smith and David Tennant in Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor. Photograph: BBC

What we said: "Steven Moffat ... was the showrunner on the day it really mattered, and on that day when it was impossible to get it right, he only went and got it right. The Day of the Doctor's greatest strength? It was, simply, a rollicking good Doctor Who story. Not a fanfest we'd hoped for, nor the snub fans had feared. Just an all-time great example of why this show is still so beloved after 50 years." Dan Martin

26. House of Cards (Netflix)

What we said: "Here are the realities of political life as most of us suspect them to be. Ramped up, maybe, but still close enough to the truth. Men and women who may once have started out in politics with the intention of doing some good but have long since lost that idealism. By the time they make it to Washington or Westminster, every politician has made too many unkept promises and stabbed too many people in the front not to be compromised. All that matters from there on is the pursuit of power. And House of Cards is as entertaining a vision as any of how most politicians would like to play politics if they thought they could get away with it." John Crace

25. The Tunnel (Sky Atlantic)

What we said: "What eventually drove me away from The Killing, for example, was the almost total lack of variation in tone, whereas what's really selling The Tunnel for me is the humour, particularly between Karl and Elise ... Best of all, it's a British adaptation of a subtitled drama that still manages to have subtitles (when the French characters talk to each other). So it still has that slightly inaccessible feel that leads to greater satisfaction when you manage to keep on top of plot and character through the dialogue." Julia Raeside

24. Hannibal (Sky Living)

What we said: "It's been a slow burn, but with four episodes left, the decision to revive one of pop culture's best known serial killers, Dr Hannibal Lecter, feels like a good one. With its autumnal colour schemes and inventive, over-the-top murders, Hannibal is a show that stands out, and that's saying a lot in this year's crowded serial killer market, overflowing as it is with blood, gore and psychological profiling." Richard Vine

23. 30 Rock (Comedy Central)

30 Rock Photograph: 30 Rock

What we said: "The end of the show means the end of Dr Spaceman's questionable medical advice ("Sounds like you could use a little R&R. Rum and Ritalin"), Kenneth the Page's country wisdom ("Science was my most favorite subject, especially the Old Testament") and Tracy Jordan's insights ("There's no link between diabetes and diet. That's a white myth, Ken; like Larry Bird or Colorado")." Amanda Holpuch

22. Eastbound and Down (FOX)

21. Veep (Sky Atlantic)

What we said: "Simon Blackwell, a writer and producer on Veep, says Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a connoisseur of comedy. "She cares about it, as a craft," he tells me. "She's great on the mechanics of comedy, the nuts and bolts of how it works. That stuff fascinates her – how an extra beat of time can nail a joke or kill it. Why that word should go in that place in the sentence, or when you need to break the sentence. Matt Walsh, who plays Mike in Veep, says she can find the extra jokes on the way to the joke, and that's true. It's almost an academic interest, or like a musician knowing theory." Ryan Gilbey